Due to the omnipresence of mobile devices in modern life, it is no surprise that media consumption has become increasingly multi-layered with many consumers using an additional screen for secondary activities while watching TV, popular especially among millennials and the Generation X.

Already in 2014, more people in China accessed the Internet from a mobile device than a PC and the number of mobile phone internet users in Asia Pacific grew 11.5% this year compared to the last, according to statistica. Meanwhile, the market research company eMarketer predicts that smartphone users in the region will just be over 1 billion this year. Considering that nearly 800 million new mobile internet subscribers are forecasted to come online in Asia by 2020, smartphones, tablets, and personal digital assistants obviously become an integral part of everyday life.

Correspondingly, apps will become increasingly important, especially since nobody wants to miss checking emails, searching for information, or buying online on the go, besides tracking the weather report or stock-exchange. The intelligent overall customer dialogue across email, mobile and social media, as well as integration with the channel "mobile apps" across the entire customer lifecycle, has a crucial role to play in effective mobile CRM, since it supports the goal of overseeing optimal service to customers throughout the entire lifecycle - from acquisition to re-activation.

An app user provides the company with an additional touchpoint for one-to-one communication and should therefore in any case be included in the communications planning.

This results in two specific challenges, namely:

• The app usage data must be connected to the central CRM in order to derive a usage profile of app behavior and to assign the device to a specific customer.

• The touchpoint mobile device as a communication channel must be made accessible so that messages can be delivered synchronously, for instance, as push notification.

Smart ‘deep links’ optimize the customer journey

App marketing platforms are an important component in optimizing the customer journey and complement the touchpoint mobile device. In particular, the possibility of so-called "smart deep links" offers great potential, allowing intelligent routes, depending on the device. If a customer clicks, for instance, on a relevant offer he receives on his laptop, he is lead to the "regular shop". Instead, if he opens the offer or newsletter on his mobile device and clicks there, the smart link checks whether the online store app is installed on his mobile device and opens it there, so that the conversion is optimized in addition to the customer journey.

DYMATRIX, for instance, has tapped the touchpoint mobile for its customers in a completely new way. By using an API interface, the cross-channel campaign management tool DynaCampaign can control various app marketing platforms holistically and integrate the touchpoint mobile device into the regular communication that way. A multi-stage reactivation measure may be structured so that customers who do not open an email, get the offer sent via push notification. A push notification can also be used as an amplifier to promote, for example, an offer that the customer receives as well via email.

Sending of attention-grapping push notifications

Push notifications are simply an effective communication channel to send the app users relevant news directly to the start screen of their smartphones. The push message can be personalized by using the campaign management tool, and when provided with deep links, lead the customers to a targeted page or a section of the app.

All touchpoints are important and must be considered

However, analyzing only the usage in the app is often not sufficient to get optimal results, instead the entire behavior of the customer across all touchpoints must be included in the analysis - particularly behavior regarding emails (opens, clicks) as well as the entire transaction history - inclusive of cancellations and returns. Based on this information, action can be derived, target groups defined, and personal recommendations displayed synchronization across all channels.

By Daniela La Marca